A runaway out-of-control Toyota Prius that hit 94mph with the accelerator jammed on a California highway was slowed by police to a safe stop.

Toyota Motor Corp’s newest Prius hybrid cars are seen at the company’s factory in Toyota City

Driver James Sikes dialled 911 â the American emergency number â when he realised that his car was out of control on the Interstate 8 in San Diego County.

“I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny,” Sikes said at a press conference on Monday. “It jumped and it just stuck there. As it was going, I was trying the brakes … It wasn’t stopping.”

Sixty-one-year-old Mr Sikes travelled for 20minutes, and 30 miles, at over 90mph.

Brave California Highway Patrol officers pulled alongside and yelled instructions through a loudspeaker to Mr Sikes, telling him to use the brakes and emergency brake to slow the vehicle.

Once he’d reached 50mph, Mr Sikes felt safe enough to turn off the engine and he coasted to a stop.

Toyota has been plagued by technical problems recently and issued a mass recall of millions of its cars for sudden acceleration issues and accelerator pedals ‘sticking’.

It’s not known if Mr Sikes’ car was recalled or fixed, but Toyota did dispatch an engineer to investigate.